Falafels and Cucumber Sauce: Budget Friendly Meal

Healthy, Budget Friendly Meal

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Todays healthy budget friendly meal is Falafels! The main ingredient is dried garbanzo beans/ chickpeas. If you have never used dried beans before please refer to yesterdays post as a reference about the practicality and savings of dried beans. This recipe does require soaking so plan to begin soaking the beans the night before!

Our Falafel Story:

Yesterdays dinner almost wasn't falafels. It was on the menu but... Micah did not want to be put down. The kitchen was covered in dirty dishes I had not gotten time to wash. Alex would be calling any minute to say he was leaving the office and I had not started dinner. I had never made cooked falafels and had no idea how they would turn out.

But instead of asking Alex to pick up Chipotle on the way home (like I really wanted to), I pressed in and made dinner. I didn't even consider getting the camera out to document this dinner because I through it would be less then repeatable.

I was wrong. The falafels were outstanding, super easy, and very inexpensive. I based my trial yesterday off some recipes I found online. I did not have all the ingredients they called for so I improvised. Falafels are typically fried. However, I did not want to take the time standing over the stove to fry them. (plus frying in coconut oil is pricy) So... I baked them on a baking stone until they were crispy on the outside.

Falafels

1 1/2 cups dried garbanzo beans/ chickpeas

1 small onion

2 cloves garlic

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp cumin

1 tbsp sea salt

1 tsp coriander

1/2 cup ground flax seed meal

1/2 cup cilantro (would have added, if I would have had)

Spread garbanzo beans on the counter picking out any cracked or wrinkled beans, as well as any small stones or dirt. Dump the beans into a colander and rinse with water. Put the rinsed beans in a large bowl and cover with several inches of cold pure water. Soak 12-24 hours on the countertop. (after 24 hours place in fridge if you are not ready to use) Add more water if needed because the beans will absorb the water and triple in size.

Drain and rinse beans. Put soaked beans in a food processor and pulse to coarsely grind, not until smooth but with no whole chickpeas remaining either. Place 3/4 of the ground beans in a bowl. Add to the remaining beans in the food processor, onion, garlic, olive oil, and spices. Process until the mixture is well incorporated; scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the puree to the bowl. Add the ground flax seed. Stir well.

Form the falafel mixture into ping-pong size balls and place on a baking stone. This recipe makes about 35 falafels. 

Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until the outside is crisp.

Cucumber Sauce

1 cup plain whole milk yogurt (organic best)

1/4 seedless cucumber

1 tbsp Vegenaise

1 tsp dill

salt and pepper

Peel and finely chop cucumber. Combine cucumber with all other ingredients.

To Serve:

I made a half a batch of homemade tortillas, kept them small and called them pitas. On top of each pita I placed a couple of falafels and topped with the cucumber sauce. On the side we had roasted asparagus.

Cost:

Falafels- $1.50 (using organic garbanzo beans)

Cucumber sauce- $1.10

1 lb Asparagus- $1.50

Dinner Total (with leftovers) =$4.10